The way they were: The couples I miss the most from the dance floor!

Back after a long hiatus! Publishing some new posts :)


I know that all ballroom dance fanatics such as I have couples that they miss the most! I get very nostalgic trolling on Youtube and I thought I would share with you some of the most iconic couples that have broken up, yet have undoubtedly left a mark in the world of ballroom dancing!

1. Slavik Kryklyvyy and Karina Smirnff

They were young. They were hot. They were so talented!
Slavik and Karina were also in a private relationship while they danced together for four years.I remember reading in an interview that he had kissed her randomly when she was having a phone conversation and that was how their relationship began. The couple was known for their explosive dancing...and their rumoured explosive fights! I believe that their professional partnership was over when they broke up as romantic partners.

For me, their dancing was absolute perfection. Their chemistry, their technique....it just came across as very geniune and real!

I know Slavik has tried to find a partnership that could finally allow him to become the World Champion, but he has never been able to finding a partnership that lasted as long as his with Karina's

From watching the clips of Ballroom Dancer, it appears he is very much a perfectionist and this probably drove his former partners away.

Also with the release of Ballroom Dancer, we now know for certain that Slavik has retired. It is funny that if they had lasted another few years and continued to dance together after the retirement of Bryan Watson and Carmen Vincelji, they would have surely won Blackpool and become the World Champions.

Isn't this video cute? I have also posted their reunion videos. PLEASE continue to dance together, so I can make it to you show next near at Dance Legends!





2. Stefano di Fillipo and Anna Melnikova

This couple was smoulderingly hot! Stefano was a beast on the dance floor...and Anna was so gorgeous! They both still are amazing, but personally, I think they were the best together.

Like Slavik and Karina, Stefano and Anna entered into this partnership as a private couple. However, they soon broke up afterwards and Anna started to date Slavik. However, Stefano and Anna continued to partner each other and together they won the Amateur World Championships and Blackpool.

This couple just complemented each other so well. Stefano might not have the perfect refinement of Slavik, but he brings sheer masculinity and FUN to his dancing. At that point, I thought that Anna brought out the best of her herself. She was the most confident, sexy and dynamic in this partnership!

Although Stefano had a very successful partnership with Olga Urumova, their chemistry wasn't as natural. He is very solid at the moment with his wife Daria, but I miss the boldness he had as an amateur. I felt that Anna became less bold during her partnership with Slavik. With Justinas Duknauskas, she has really toned it down and become a more subtle dancer in my opinion. I think a lot of it has to do with the amount of energy she gets to feed on and also how comfortable she is in that partnership.

Surprises at Blackpool 2011: Joanna and Michal win again and some notable couples are missing!

Sorry for being away for so long...was busy with real life.

I am going to write about how I honestly felt about the Blackpool results...sorry if this offends anyone, but these were my thoughts.

Michal and Joanna take first place in all six dances at Blackpool 2011

Photo credit: www.malitowskileunis.com

So the battle between Joanna Leunis and  Michal Malitowski and Yulia Zagorouitchenko and Riccardo Cocchi wasn't a tight race after all with Joanna and Michal placing first in all five dances. Last year, Yulia and Riccardo won the jive. I don't think any couple can come close to the Yulia and Riccardo's jive, so for me no doubt Joanna and Michal's unanimous victory leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

Personally, I prefer the way Yulia and Riccardo dance. They are a lot softer and I think Yulia dances with more feelings than Joanna does. In addition, it's very evident that Riccardo is technically superior to Michal.

Btw, interesting note at the World Championships, Michal and Joanna were clearly very disappointed and did not speak to Yulia and Riccardo when they were standing on the podium. It's around 6:18 minutes. Yulia and Riccardo only spoke to Sergey and Melia. Michal and Joanna did not stay to watch Yulia and Riccardo's honor dance.

Here is the video:



Looking at dance politics, when Slavik Kryklyvyy and Karina Smirnoff were in the finals with Bryan Watson and Carmen Vincelji, Slavik and Karina could never beat them. Will Michal and Joanna win every year at Blackpool even when Yulia and Riccardo are winning the World Championships?

In addition, I have to point out that Sergey Surkov and Melia, as usual placed third. Sergey is a great dancer, but Melia in all honesty, is technically worse than any of the ladies in the top 20. She lacks hip action in the samba, cha cha and rumba and her jive lacks any bounce action.

I know everyone says she dances with great expression and feeling, and I think she does and I do enjoy watching her dance,  but does someone this level of technique deserve to be third in the world beating out exceptional female dancers like Melinda?

If any of you readers are professional dancers please explain to me what makes her technique even comparable to the top ladies like Yulia, Joanna or Olga. I know they train with Donnie Burns, but I find it shocking that someone so technically inferior can be a world finalist. For me, an interesting situation would be if Yulia and Riccardo and Joanna and Michal retired. That would make Sergey and Melia first in the world...even with her being a worse dancer than any of the top 20 ladies!!

Couple to watch out for: Stefano di Filippo and Olga Urumova placed fifth in the Blackpool Professionals. He looks like he has the most fun out of all the finalists and his hip action, energy and his choreography brings an authentic Latin flavour to the final. Olga is very good as well and they are very compatible together.

Notable missing couples: Some of my favourites in the Latin Amateur division that didn't compete (I am guessing due to IDSF restrictions) include Andrei Zaitsev and Anna Kuzminskaya and Zoran Plohl & Tatsiana Lahvinovich making the Amateur competition seem a bit emptier than the past few years.

Alexei Silde and Anna Firstova also were absent from the Professional division, and we won't be seeing them at any WDC competitions competing with other top 6 pairs. Sad...they are both so good!

So what did you think of my assessments of Blackpool? If you disagree with anything I said please let me know, eager to listen to some other opinions as well!

Funniest World Super Star Dancing Parody!!!

 After spending hours on youtube...I came across this gem.



It's a parody of some of the World Super Star dancers. They nail dead-on Melia's bad foot actions (and dramatic poses), Slavik's love of dancing solo, Bryan's enthusiastic jive and finally Michal and Joanna's abstract shapes during their techno music performances. Missing noticeably are Riccardo and Yulia....but you will still laugh so hard.

It is very funny, but as a warning only dancers who have watched the WSS videos one too many times will get the performances.

Happy watching!

Michal Malitowski and Joanna Leunis beat Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagoruitchenko!

Michal and Joanna at the UK Open 2011. They were the champions of the night.

Credit: Peter Suba

Yesterday at the UK Open 2011, Joanna Leunis and Michal Malitowski showed the world that they are the top pair once more.

I am surprised. A bit.

Am I excited? Yes.

Historically, the top Latin pair has stayed at the top...until they retire. Look at Donnie Burns and Gaynor Fairweather and Byran Watson and Carmen Vincelji.

This might make Professional Latin ballroom a little less predictable and a little bit more exciting. Last November, Ricccardo and Yulia were crowned the world champions. So this UK Open was absolutely essential in determining if Michal and Joanna were still at the top.

Riccardo and Yulia giving it their all this year at the UK 2011. They won the title last year.

Credit: Peter Suba

Last year, Riccardo and Yulia won, but Michal and Joanna didn't compete.

I wasn't there at the event, so I don't know how each couple danced, but Joanna and Michal beat them.

I really hope they finally changed their choreography and really added some other more creative elements to take the championship. They have been dancing the same routines for a several years now.

 Congrats to Michal and Joanna. May the best pair win every time.

Poker Face and a three-person rumba at Blackpool Congress

I love creative dance routines.

The Blackpool Congress is the last place I would expect to see a cha cha and tango to Poker Face. For a minute, I thought the author had switched the music, but after hearing the applause, I realized it was real.

Here is a Latin couple and another standard couple (who I don't know the name of) dancing the tango.



Another favourite of mine is Bryan Watson, Carmen Vincelj and Hans Galke doing a three-person rumba at the Blackpool Congress in 2007

I love the song and the story of this piece. It was Bryan and Carmen's last year competing at Blackpool, so it was particularly moving.



That wasn't the first three-person dance routine, but I thought it was done particularly well and the choreography I thought was very thoughtful.

Once upon a time there was Karina Smirnoff (Karyna Kylkova) and Paul Killick

I love finding old videos of my favourite dancers.

Karina's big break came when she was relatively unknown and 18 and paired up with the already established Paul Killick. Back then, Karina was known as Karyna Kykova.

She is so beautiful and not as tanned in the video. Short lived, but it is the partnership that made her a legend. They placed second overall in the 1999 British Open, losing to Jukka Haappalainen and Sirpa Suutari, but BEATING Bryan Watson and Carmen Vincelji.